# Net metering ends 2027: what changes for Dutch solar

> The Dutch net metering scheme ends on 1 January 2027. What replaces it, the legal minimum feed-in payment, and what it means for your contract and bill.

If you have solar panels on a Dutch roof – or you are about to move into a house that has them – the rules that decide what your exported electricity is worth change on 1 January 2027. On that date the *salderingsregeling*, the net metering scheme that lets households cancel out the electricity they send to the grid against the electricity they take from it, comes to an end.

Until then, nothing changes. Up to and including 31 December 2026 the scheme stays exactly as it is: every kilowatt hour your panels export is deducted from the kilowatt hours you consume, and you are billed on the difference. From 1 January 2027 that offsetting disappears. Instead, your supplier pays you a feed-in payment (*terugleververgoeding*) for the electricity you export. That payment must by law be at least 50% of the bare supply rate, and that minimum applies until 2030. Suppliers may only pass on the costs they genuinely incur to handle exported electricity, and the ACM – the *Autoriteit Consument en Markt*, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets – supervises both the payment and those costs.

This page explains what that means in practice: what changes, what stays the same, what to check if you are signing a contract that runs past 2026, and what it means if you rent rather than own.

## How net metering works today

A Dutch home with solar panels is connected to the grid in both directions. When the panels produce more than the house uses, the surplus flows out; when they produce less – at night, in winter, on a grey afternoon – the house draws electricity in.

Under the *salderingsregeling*, those two flows are set against each other over the billing year. Export 1,500 kWh and consume 3,000 kWh, and you are billed for 1,500 kWh: the electricity you exported in June is credited against what you import in December. An exported kilowatt hour has been worth exactly as much as a consumed one, whenever it was produced.

For scale: the average Dutch household uses 2,430 kWh of electricity and 1,040 m³ of gas per year (CBS figures for 2024, via Milieu Centraal). A domestic array produces its electricity in summer and in the middle of the day – the wrong months and the wrong hours. Net metering is what has smoothed that mismatch out on paper.

## What changes on 1 January 2027

One thing, and it is a big one: the offsetting stops. From 1 January 2027 the electricity you export and the electricity you import are treated as two separate things. You pay the full price for every kilowatt hour you take from the grid – your contract’s rate plus energy tax, VAT and network charges – and separately, your supplier pays you for the kilowatt hours you export.

The consequence is that *when* you use your own solar electricity starts to matter. Electricity you consume while the panels are producing it – self-consumption – is worth the full retail price you avoid paying. Electricity you export is worth the feed-in payment, which is lower. Under net metering that distinction barely existed. From 2027 it is the central one.

Nothing about your connection, your meter or your grid operator changes on that date. Network charges (*netbeheerkosten*) are still billed through your energy supplier, and they are identical at every supplier for the same address: they are set by the regional grid operator, not by the company whose name is on your bill.

## The feed-in payment and the legal minimum

The *terugleververgoeding* is what your supplier pays you per exported kilowatt hour. The supplier sets it, but not freely: the law requires at least 50% of the bare supply rate – the price of the electricity itself, before energy tax, VAT and network charges. That floor applies until 2030.

Two points are worth being precise about. First, 50% is a minimum, not a standard. Suppliers may offer more, and what they offer is part of what you are comparing when you choose a contract. Second, the floor is tied to the bare supply rate, so it moves with the market rather than being a fixed cent amount – and on a dynamic contract, where that rate follows hourly market prices, it looks different again. See [how fixed, variable, dynamic and model contracts differ here](https://www.energievergelijker.nl/en/dutch-energy-contract-types).

Alongside the payment, suppliers may charge for handling exported electricity (*terugleverkosten*). The rule here is narrow: they may only pass on the costs they actually incur, and the ACM supervises this. It is not a free-form surcharge. What individual suppliers charge, and how they structure it, varies – and it is the number most likely to move between now and 2027. We track those charges separately on [what Dutch suppliers charge for handling electricity you feed back](https://www.energievergelijker.nl/en/solar-feed-in-costs).

## Why supplier terms start to matter more than they did

Net metering flattened the market. If every exported kilowatt hour is simply subtracted from your consumption, the numbers that decide your bill are the rate per kilowatt hour and the standing charge. Suppliers competed on those, and households with panels could largely ignore the rest of the terms.

After 1 January 2027 there are three numbers instead: what you pay per kilowatt hour imported, what you are paid per kilowatt hour exported, and what you are charged for exporting. A supplier that looks cheapest on the first can be the most expensive overall for a household with a large array. The same contract stops being equally good for everyone.

## If you are signing a contract now that runs past 2026

A fixed contract (*vast contract*) locks the supply rate for a set number of years. It does not necessarily lock everything else. Before signing a contract that runs into 2027 or beyond, put four questions to the supplier:

- What is the feed-in payment under this contract, and is it fixed for the whole term or can it be adjusted?
- Are feed-in charges included, and can they be introduced or changed during the term?
- What happens to those terms on 1 January 2027 specifically – does the contract already describe the post-net-metering situation, or does it refer to conditions to be announced?
- What is the exit penalty if you leave early, and how does it compare with the risk of being locked into unfavourable feed-in terms?

None of this makes a long fixed contract a bad idea. It makes it a decision with more moving parts than before. To see how the terms currently differ, [check what suppliers are offering for your postcode and usage](https://www.energievergelijker.nl/en/compare-energy-providers-netherlands).

## What this means if you rent

Renters are often told this change does not concern them. That is usually wrong.

If your rented home has solar panels, they are in most cases owned by the landlord (*verhuurder*). The electricity flows over the tenant’s connection, though: the export is registered on your meter, appears on your energy contract, and from 2027 the feed-in payment and any feed-in charges land on your bill, not the landlord’s.

So you choose the supplier whose feed-in terms apply, and you benefit from using solar electricity while it is being produced. Check the tenancy agreement for what it says about the panels and the energy contract for what it says about feed-in – two documents that are usually silent about each other.

## What you can usefully do

There is no urgent action to take before 2027, and anyone telling you otherwise is usually selling something. Three steps are sensible.

**Find out how much you actually export.** Your annual statement (*jaarafrekening*) shows electricity taken from the grid and electricity fed back as separate figures. The ratio between them decides how much this affects you: export a small share of what you produce and you will barely notice, export most of it and you will notice a lot.

**Shift consumption into daylight hours.** Running the washing machine, dishwasher or heat pump while the panels are producing turns exported kilowatt hours into avoided purchases. It costs nothing and is the most direct response to the change. Home batteries raise self-consumption in the same way and become more relevant after 2027 – whether they add up financially depends on equipment prices and on tariffs that do not yet exist, so treat any payback claim made today with scepticism.

**Compare on the terms that will apply, not the ones that apply now** – the supply rate, the feed-in payment and the feed-in charges together.

### A calculation you can do yourself

Once suppliers publish their 2027 terms, the sum takes this shape:

Annual cost = (kWh imported × supply rate incl. tax and VAT) + standing charges + network charges − (kWh exported × feed-in payment) + feed-in charges

The first two variables come from your annual statement; the rest come from the contract.

The government’s own explanation of the scheme and its end date is published at [rijksoverheid.nl](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/klimaat-milieu-en-natuur/energie-thuis/salderingsregeling) (in Dutch).

## Feed-in costs per supplier

What each supplier charges for handling the electricity you feed back, and what it pays you for it. The table is updated automatically.

## Frequently asked questions

Does net metering end in 2026 or 2027?
                
The scheme runs unchanged up to and including 31 December 2026 and ends on 1 January 2027. Nothing changes before that date.

                How much will I be paid for electricity I export after 2027?
                
Your supplier sets the feed-in payment, but it must be at least 50% of the bare supply rate – the price of the electricity itself, excluding energy tax, VAT and network charges. That legal minimum applies until 2030. Suppliers may offer more.

                Can my supplier charge me for feeding electricity back?
                
Yes, but only for the costs it actually incurs in processing exported electricity. The ACM supervises both the feed-in payment and these charges.

                I rent my home and the landlord owns the panels. Does this affect me?
                
Usually yes. The panels may belong to the landlord, but the electricity is exported over your connection, so the feed-in payment and any feed-in charges appear on your energy contract.

                Should I sign a multi-year fixed contract before the change?
                
That depends on the contract, not on the date. A fixed supply rate does not automatically fix the feed-in payment or the feed-in charges. Ask whether those are locked for the full term, and weigh that against the exit penalty.